Thursday, December 30, 2010

Faith has done it again with Whimsical Cardinals. This is her latest digital image from Designed 2 Delight.﻿ It's actually three images, so you can choose which one to use.

If you missed out on recieving the image as a freebie this week, make sure to grab it in the shop. Or...by playing along, you'll recieve next week's image free!!

This is another quick card again, I'm sorry for that. I'm preparing for Christmas as we have not had it yet at our house. My parents are due to fly back in from their vacation tomorrow provided the weather 'holds off'. Suppose to be nasty foggy and slippery : ( So, once they get home - our son and his family are coming up and we will finally be celebrating Christmas - YAY!! Although, my hubby & I have already exchanged gifts. I was so excited Christmas morning as I got my Cricut Expression in my favorite color - PURPLE!

Well...back to my card. It has been awhile since I used my Copic markers so I decided to give them a try. I am still getting the hang of how to blend and shade with them. I then added some sparkle on the scarves, and chalked my background. I hope you like it and ALL comments are welcome.

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Once again....Faith has brought us an adorable image "Valentine Snowman". I can't believe I am actually posting this early for a change. But he was so cute, I decided to make a few last minute cards with him. For the most part, I colored him in on the Adobe PhotoShop program. I then "highlighted" the snowflake in his hand with some chalk. Added some shimmer, 'snow', and some bling and I love how it turned out.

Well.....hope you have a wonderful Christmas and hope you get all you wanted and then some. May God bless and peace find you wherever you are this holiday season.

Hope you have all of your shopping done, presents wrapped, and goodies made!

Here are a few of the Christmas cards that I sent out this year. I really like how they turned out. My girlfriend and I recently went to a warehouse sale at a scrapbooking paper place and bought way to much...lol. I saw these cute little 'bib' cards and thought they would be great for making my cards. I did 2 designs, a stamped background on some green cardstock, stamped trees on patterned paper and some Stickles to make the star sparkle.

My next card I used a cute new cling stamp that I recently purchsed as well. I kept it simple and just added some bling to it.

Then some more pre-cut cards I bought (made card making so easy this year)and I ran one layer thru my Cuttlebug and finished it off w/ribbon and a lil bling.

And last....these are the 2 free make-n-takes we got to do the day of the warehouse sale. Aren't these just adorable!!

Well....I had fun making these and....I hope you enjoyed them as well.

Thursday, December 9, 2010

As usual~there are always the red, white and variations of those colors along those lines every year. A few years back one of the local florists had a sale and had some white poinsettias 'sprayed' purple and added glitter to them as well. Being the purple lover that I am - I immediately fell for the beautiful plant. But now with a household of 3 VERY curious cats, I unfortunetely can no longer bring these home. So....when trying to inspire myself, I immediately went for the non-traditional purple w/some glitter.

I chalked my design w/purples, then sprayed some "shimmer' over the top. Layered the design and popped it up on the card. I then added a lil tag and some ribbon and TADA finshed. Although I do have to admit, I did take apart this card a few times as it just wasn't to my liking. But I have to say...I liked how it finally turned out.

Thursday, December 2, 2010

WOW....another busy week!! Plus, both camera batteries were dead, and my scrap room is in shambles. I had my son install some nice shelving in the closet over Thanksgiving, and needless to say, my room is a mess with everything pulled out and laying on the floor yet. I hope to get that taken care of this weekend!

On to the good stuff.....Faith brings us "Christmas Cocoa" this week. I usually make my homemade cocoa this time of year for my girlfriends and co-workers. They just LOVE it! I may use this image on a tag to go with those gifts this year. But for the meantime, I made up a simple card.

I printed the image 2 times on white card stock and once on patterened paper. I 'aged' my cardstock with ink, cut out the candy cane, and then cut out the cup on the patterned paper. I then colored in my cocoa, adhered the patterned image to my 'aged' cardstock image, and then put my candy cane on top of that. I think it turned out pretty well!

Thursday, November 25, 2010

WOW.....I can't believe Thanksgiving is done and Christmas is right around the corner. I had a great time with my son,his girlfriend and my 2 granddaughters today.

This weeks image is "Skating Penguin". He is SO ADORABLE!! I couldn't wait to get started on him. I colored most of the image w/chalks and did the red on the scarf in marker. I then put a lil' shimmer here and there, a statement, and topped it off with a beautiful snowflake. And it so happens that Double Delights challenge this week is "Snowflakes".

Well, I hope you like it, and that you had an awesome day just as I did. Happy Black Friday to those of you who are venturing out tomorrow. Not sure if I will be out or not. I will have to look thru the ads one more time....LOL!!!

Thursday, November 18, 2010

Not sure why I choose to do this to myself this week, but I did. I actually made 4.....YES 4 different cards! For some reason, when I started to color her in I was thinking to myself "What if she had this color.....". So, I will present all four of my cards. Hope you like them!! And I must thank Faith once again for such a wonderful image to work with this week. You MUST check out her shop! OR....play along at the beginning of the month and start with the first image free and recieve each week's image free there after as long as you play!

So here we go....in particular order:

The 2 that are more Christmas like I decided to color in the image using chalks. This is the first time I had used chalks and thought it was kind of fun!! The 2 other cards that are more "generic" I used my Copic markers to color them in. I am still getting the hang of how to use them, shading and what not. And this weeks challenge over at the 'sister blog' Double Delight, the challenge was SPARKLE!!! I used my Stickles for the cuffs, collar and halo on the image. And then my Gelly Roll pen for the wings and stars.

I hope you like them all. Please - any comments are most appreciated and welcomed!See you next week for another great challenge!!

Thursday, November 11, 2010

This weeks image from Faith over @ designed2delight.blogspot.com is titled "Harvest Basket". I still can't believe Thanksgiving is just around the corner. If you played along last week, you got the free image plus some sentiments. I decided to use the Give Thanks sentiment. And over at Double Delights challenge ~ doubledelightchallenges.blogspot.com ~ it was CAS - clean and simple!!

The thing that took me the longest was to cut out the pumpkin in the foreground. I cut it out once w/the leaves & the 'eggplant'. And then cut it again with just the pumpkin - for an extra 2 layers on top of the original image.

Thursday, November 4, 2010

Hello again~This week's image from Designed 2 Delight is titled "Laughing Giraffes". At first I wasn't sure what I was going to do with this cute image. But, then I went to the sister site, Double Delight and their weekly challenge was embossing~then it 'hit me'. I LOVE using my Fuzzy Fun Flock. After coloring in my image w/Photoshop, I then proceeded to cover it's spots in the brown flocking. I think it turned out really well!

I embossed the brown background, inked my edges, popped up the image and blinged it out a little. The picture below shows the embossing up closer.

Thursday, October 28, 2010

This week's image from Faith is this ADORABLE "Scarecrow Teddy". He is actually just a small part of a set just released over at Faith digital stamp shop. You really should check out the rest of the images!! She does a wonderful job!!!

I colored in the image w/colored pencils, inked the edges of the white & brown cardstock. Popped it up on the card, added some bling, flowers & twine to complete the look. I painted the yellow flower w/the Creative Inspiration Paints to give it some shimmer. And put some Diamond Glaze on his "heart" for some added depth. Double Delights challenge is twine or rafia, so I looped some twine behind the flower and threaded it thru on the button as well.

Thursday, October 21, 2010

My grandmother died at an early age due to Breast Cancer, so this is something very near to my heart. I have participated in many Relay for Life events, contributed towards Breast Cancer events and even planned & help start a bowling tournament "Strike Out Cancer" in my hometown to raise money for the cause as well. This image from Faith this week is absolutely amazing!!

The background is actually an Irish Blessing. I didn't want to 'take away' any of the beauty of the image, so I just simply colored in the flowers - pink of course! I then used Diamond Glaze on the centers of the flowers to give them some dimension. Then went over the top of the flowers with my CI Paints "TuTu Pink" paint. That is also another wonderful site you need to check out if you haven't already!

I then added a pink ribbon and a twine bow, topped with some flowers and bling. And over @ Double Delight - the weekly challenge was PINK!I have kinda been on a brown & pink kick lately and just love how the colors all came together on this one.

Now, my oldest granddaughter just turned 5. And we all know that it's not the card they go after, but the gift. But I loved this little birthday cupcake. I printed it out twice, once on chocolate cardtsock, then on pink. I then painted the pink 'frosting' with the Creative Inspirations "TuTu Pink' paint. And then colored then candle and put a little shimmer on there as well with my Gelly Roll pen. Then I cut out the candle and popped it up.

Thursday, October 14, 2010

Here is this week's card made with the freebie whimsical flowers by Faith. It is part of the newly released set "Willow Whimsy". Check out her site, she has some wonderful digi’s for anytime of the year.Want some FREE digi stamps? Play along this week and you will get a new freebie next week via email. If you missed getting this stamp for free, you can purchase it @ Faith’s digi stamps shop [here] and play along to receive the next freebies. I colored it in w/Copic Markers and inked my edges. I then added dimensionals to the back and popped it up. I then added my ribbon & twine bow ties, along w/a Prima flower sprayed with a little Glimmer Mist.

Below you can see a close up of the bling that I added to each flowers. As well as the flowers spritzed with the mist. Then over at Double Delight Challenges – this week challenge was blues & greens. Head over & check out Double Delight Challenges on Saturday for their latest challenge!!

Thursday, October 7, 2010

Well, you know the old saying!! These "Two Apples" from Faith this week are just perfect for this time of year. I can smell the apple pie cooking now ~sniff, sniff~

I colored the image using the Adobe Photoshop and made one red (my hubby likes those) and one green for me! I carried the red & green theme thru on my background by layering the green on top of the brick red. Then - on Double Delight's challenge, it was to use borders punches. So, I used this beautiful scallop punch that I purchsed not that long ago, in the brick red color. I then layered on top of that, a cocoa brown, then brown color core paper. I used the QuicKutz Stripes Label folder thru the Cuttlebug, and then distressed it by sanding it away to make the light brown pop thru.

I then went over top of the apples with the Diamond Glaze. I was rushing a lil bit so I have a few tiny bubbles in it...oops! I then finished it off w/some bling and a red button tied with some brown twine.

Please check out these wonderful sites and join in the fun!!!Hope to see you there soon!http://doubledelightchallenges.blogspot.com/http://designed2delight.blogspot.com/

Thursday, September 30, 2010

Another beautiful image from Faith this week entitled "Peace and Comfort". I really don't like making these kind of cards, but if I need one in the future I will now have one. I hope I don't have to use this card for a long time.

I didn't go all out on the this card, as the simplicity speaks for itself.

Thursday, September 23, 2010

HI everyone!! This weeks image from Faith is perfect for my favorite holiday - Halloween! Scaredy cat is so cute, I couldn't wait to play with it. You can get this image over at Designed 2 Delights digi stamp site or even easier - play along with us and get the next weeks image FREE!!!This past weekend I was @ Scrapfest at Mall of America with my girlfriends. We had a blast - learning and playing around with some new techniques. I still don't have all my supplies unpacked yet, so this image didn't get my 'full attention' I guess.

It may be hard to see but, I flocked up the spider, colored in my image w/watercolor pencils and then blended them in. Put some Clear Star shimmer on the face of the pumpkin to make him look light he is 'glowing'. I then wrapped midnight twine around my stamped saying and popped up my flower w/dimensionals. You can't see it the best - but I colored my 2nd petal w/CI Paints Pumpkin for some shimmer, and dabbed my base flower in some white ink to give a cobwebby look. Then added some bling here and there and TA DA!! Then while taking pictures - it occured to me that the green under my image almost resembles a cresent moon~how weird!!

Thursday, September 16, 2010

Well, another quick posting. Been really busy at work with people out sick, etc~plus I am finishing up my packing for my Scrapfest trip to Mall of America tomorrow with my girlfriends!! I CAN'T WAIT!!

Faith has another adorable digi this week titled "Sew Beary Kind". If you haven't checked her blog out - GET OVER THERE!! It's great and I get a ton of ideas by looking at stuff on her site.

I again stuck with the falls colors, as I love the colors of fall. Rust, yellows, reds......God's little treat to us before winter comes : )

Then over at Double Delight - the weekly challenge was sewing. OK....I am defintely not a sewing kind of gal, but I improvised as best as I could. I pierced my paper and threaded thru the paper to make look as if I had sewn my image onto the paper. I then added my own lil homemade needle on the end! I also followed the Sketches by Carly design on the Double Delight challenge as well.

I also added a lil shimmer to the thread using my Gel Roll Clear Star pen, and gave my teddy some bling for buttons!! Hope you like!!

Thursday, September 9, 2010

Sure feels like it around here!! Been cool here lately, but that’s ok….I LOVE FALL!!

This is the first challenge of the month from Faith entitled “Oak Wreath” at Designed 2 Delight.

Want some FREE digi stamps? Play along the first week of the month, and you will get a new freebie next week via email. Otherwise, check out Faith’s digi shop athttp://designed2delight.com/prestashop/ and download your favorites. It’s so much fun to play along each week.

I once again used my Photoshop Elements program to color in my digi stamp. I then traced the ‘twigs’ w/my Clear Star gelly roll pen. And then topped it off by putting some Diamond Glaze on the acorns for a lil pop!! Then last year at ScrapFest @ Mall of America I picked up alot of bling in the Archiver’s store. I came across this brown one that went perfect along with the fall theme. And actually – that was the challenge at the sister site of Double Delight this week – Fall Colors. When I think of fall, I think of shimmery, wet looking leaves. So I used my CI Paints Fairy Dust to ‘dust’ my leaves that I punched out to give them a little shimmer, as if they were wet.

Thursday, September 2, 2010

Hello again!! Another last minute posting~another busy week. Thank goodness I have a 3 day weekend coming up. I am going to need it.

Faith image this week is the “Cat’s Meow” which is PURRFECT for me seems how I have 3 cats of my own. I colored this one in to look like my female cat Abby. She is our oldest and was adopted thru the local Human Society. We also have 2 males cats – Sniffles and Burdock. More to come on their stories – have to get this posted!!

The sister blog challenge this week is “Summer Colors”. We were to do up our card in bright summer colors. I just love the bright colors in my background and took off the rest of my card from there. I hope you like it.

Thursday, August 26, 2010

Another great image again from Designed 2 Delight called “Fishin’ Around”.

As soon as I seen this cute monkey, I right away thought of a kids card and bright colors. I colored him in using my Photo Shop Elements program, then ‘highlighted’ the swirls on the water with my Gelly Roll Clear Star Pen.

Then the challenge over at Double Delight was ribbon, twine or string. And there was also an added bonus of a sketch to follow as well. I used my ribbon thru the center of the card, then used my ‘twine’ on his tail for the fishing line. All things considered, I think he turned out very well.

These last couple of days have been really hectic, so I was glad to have made it~even if VERY last minute.

Wed. night my husband tried out his new race car @ the fair and did very well. For never having raced on dirt and in this style car he placed 2nd in his heat, and 4th in the feature out of 16 cars. He did AWESOME!! He has been racing for over 7 years, but never on the dirt before so it defintely was a new experience. Then tonight, our company hosted a Packer tailgate party for our branch office from Indianapolis and some customers. What fun ~ GO PACK GO ~ awesome game.

Well, I am very bushed and ready to hit the hay. Enjoy and can’t wait to play along again next week!!

Thursday, August 19, 2010

But over @ Faith site it’s Happy Harvest time with her latest digi stamp. I love pumpkins, the fall colors and the crisp morning air. I just can’t wait for fall to get here! Along w/Faith’s wonderful image, over at Double Delight – the challenge this week was CAS~clean and simple. And it had to be something that would take you less than an hour and no fussing over. I kept telling my self KISS – keep it simple stupid!!! I guess I am always trying to go ‘all out’ as they say when I do my cards. I just love hearing peoples reactions when they open one of my cards. But, let me tell you - the ideas I had going thru my head with this one – wow!!

Maybe for a future card : )

The only really ‘hard’ & time consuming thing I did was to color in my pumpkins w/my Adobe Photo Shop Elements program and cut out my pumpkins. I colored in the wheat with a Copic Y28 Lionet Gold marker and popped up my pumpkin with some dimensionals. Hope you like it and can’t wait for next weeks image & challenge.

Please stop on over to Faith’s site, along w/Kathy & Kristine’s. You will be glad you did!!

Thursday, August 12, 2010

This weeks image from Faith is named “Teddy”. This adorable lil’ bear for some reason made me think right away of fall colors.

Fall is my most favorite time of the year!! The crisp fall mornings, and the trees ablaze in their remarkable colors – I can’t wait : )

If you haven’t been to Faith’s site – you got to check it out. Her images are wonderful! I also play along over at Double Delight and their challenge this week was the sketch shown above. I punched the ‘eyelets’ for my ribbon to run thru on the upper corner. I then used my I-Rock to set my bling. I found these cute little plaid button embellishments on a recent trip to JoAnn’s. I got a pack of 8 (4 different colors) for only 50 cents~SCORE! I then colored in Teddy w/my pencils and put a light coat of my CI Fairy Dust paint over the top of him to make him sparkle.

Please – check out the following site! They are awesome, have great products/ideas and best of all, you get to ‘meet’ alot of wonderful people who enjoy the same things you do.

Thursday, August 5, 2010

I am getting this challenge in under the wire this week! Been busy at home & work lately so I have been running short on time.

This weeks image really got me thinking about winter & Christmas! Before you know it ~ the snow will be falling and the Christmas season will be upon us. Faith brought us this adorable snowman that I couldn’t wait to play with. And the challenge over @ Double Delight was to make your own embellishments. So much fun : )

I colored the scarf & heart using Copic markers (still getting the hang of those yet) and very, very softly colored in the inside edges of the snowman w/gray watercolor pencil to give him a bit of a shadow effect. I used my flocking for the snow beneath him and a red gelly roll pen for the holly berries. I then painted a little CI Paints Pink Highlights over top of the scarf to make it look shimmery. My handmade embellishments was the 2 snowflakes that I punched out and used the Pink Highlights paint again on 1, the other I used the Amethyst. I then used my I-Rock to give him his buttons and the center to my snowflake. I used a sheer white ribbon, and put a thinner blue ribbon thru my Create-a-Sticker and then put it on top of the sheer ribbon. “Hand stamped” my blue background for my caption and popped it up on a purple scallop that I pierced on the edges.

The picture below shows the shimmer from the CI paints – JUST LOVE THAT STUFF!!!

Not the best picture ~ but you get the idea. Well, very tired and lots to do before I go to bed yet. Hope you ladies like it!!

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

This is the current freebie from playing along w/Faith entitled “Have a Mice Day”. Isn’t he cute peeking thru the grass …lol!! With the image this week I printed it out on the bright pink cardstock, then light pink and then white. I then cut out the petals on the pick ones and layered them on top of the white image. You can’t see it very well, but I coated the light pick (middle layer) w/my CI Paints Fairy Dust to give it some shimmer. I then printed it out on green cardstock as well and cut out the leaves and grass. I put them on using my Xyron Create A Sticker to give the image some dimension with out having to pop up the entire image to do that. I then coated it with the CI Paints Fairy Dust for more ‘wow’. The challenge over at Double Delight this week was button, buttons, buttons!! So added a few along the edge.

The picture below isn’t the best but you get the idea of how I ‘popped’ up the flower.

Then – you can see how I used the CI Paint for the great shimmering effect. OH, and I forgot about the Fuzzy Fun Flock for the pink on the ears!

I have been married for 24yrs, we have 1 son, 2 granddaughters and a grandson!! Evyon (11), Isabella (7) and Noah (3). Couldn't imagine life without them! Evyon really enjoys card making for her dad when she stops by to visit. And she LOVES my Cricut! I have been scrapbooking/card making for about 11 years and I LOVE IT!! Hope you enjoy my blog & thanks for stopping by :) Michelle